CRIVITZ – The Crivitz Board of Education met on Wednesday, May 20, for a full agenda including community input, departmental notices and a variety of approved updates.
The meeting began with public input, where commenters advocated for video streaming board meetings, congratulated the newly elected board members and thanked a retiring bus driver.
Superintendent Kelly Robinson recognized staff members during Teacher Appreciation Week and acknowledged several retiring staff members for their years of service, including Val LaCourt, 21 years; Judi Voissem, five years; Stephanie Foelske, three years; Shelly Weiting, eight years; and Jeff Baumann, thirty years.
In other personnel updates, Randall Copiskey was approved as the new middle/high school technical education teacher and Leisha Long will serve as a social worker intern for the 2026 - 2027 school year.
The board voted to make the community education supervisor a full-time position and change the title to community education director. To fund this, the board approved increasing the Fund 80 tax levy to $65,000.
Next, a variety of financial updates were announced and approved. This included a 3% compensation increase for administrative staff and support staff.
For the district as a whole, the board approved 2026 - 2027 student accident insurance, choosing to maintain an additional $712 catastrophic coverage policy. They also approved the district liability insurance, which saw an overall 5.2% increase. The increase was largely driven by a jump in workers’ compensation rates.
Robinson shared that a proposed state budget deal — which would have provided $600 million for K-12 schools and increased special education funding — had been voted down in the state senate.
She explained that this deal would have raised the state’s special education reimbursement rate from the low 30% range to 45% for the current fiscal year, and up to 50% for the 2026 - 2027 school year. For Crivitz, this would have meant an additional $57,000 in special education funding this year and $142,000 next year.
“[The deal] fell through and, more than likely, no action will be taken on it again until after the election in November,” she said.
In other district items, the board shared that construction and renovations are currently underway at both the middle/high school and elementary school. Crews are working on pre-cast walls, roofing and breaking down classrooms for summer upgrades.
Meanwhile, the technology department is preparing new Chromebooks and reported receiving a $63,210 funding reimbursement for internet services and equipment.
The board approved a bid from RCMF Automated Services for a new camera system update for $116,427.97. They also approved a plan to use funds previously spent on an annual licensing fee to perform yearly camera upgrades.
The board discussed the possibility of live-streaming future meetings to increase transparency and public access. However, the board tabled the item without a vote to allow the technology coordinator time to gather more information and pricing on reliable audio-visual equipment.
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